Michel Barnier at the Bois-d’Aulne school, in Yvelines, where Samuel Paty taught
Samuel Paty in 2020, Dominique Bernard a year ago: a minute of silence is planned for Monday in tribute to these two teachers murdered by radicalized Islamists in secondary and higher schools in France, with the ambition ” continue “ has “fight against ignorance and fanaticism”.
A day after a ceremony that brought together more than two thousand people and several ministers in Arras to pay tribute to Dominique Bernard, a French teacher murdered by a radicalized former student, Michel Barnier is expected to visit the Bois-d’Aulne school on Monday afternoon. , in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines), where Samuel Paty taught.
The Prime Minister will be accompanied by his Minister of Education, Anne Genetet, in this Ile-de-France institution still deeply marked by the memory of this history and geography teacher murdered by a radicalized Islamist on October 16, 2020. The school should also Soon he will be called Samuel Paty.
“Three years apart, almost exactly on the same day, two teachers were killed by Islamist terrorists. They taught French history, knowledge of the world and love for our language. “They transmitted to their students the joy of learning and the civic spirit.”Michel Barnier stressed on Sunday in a message on X. “We will not forget them. And we will do everything possible to protect our teachers and continue with them to fight ignorance and bigotry.”added the Prime Minister.
For this minute of silence requested in all schools and high schools, each establishment is organizing “according to the times and methods that the teaching teams consider most appropriate”the ministry explained. “During the week, a time of analysis and reflection can also be organized with the students, the duration and content of which will also be up to the teams to choose according to their respective situations.”He clarified, seeing in this moment of tribute a form of “transmit values” embodied by the two teachers.
Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of the SNES-FSU, the main secondary education union, judge “It is essential that the school gathers around a moment of tribute, to put words to what is still a great pain”.
Samuel Paty, 47, was stabbed and then beheaded by Abdoullakh Anzorov, a Russian refugee of Chechen origin, on October 16, 2020 near his university. The 18-year-old, a radicalized Muslim, criticized him for showing caricatures of Muhammad in class. Before being killed by the police, he took responsibility for his actions by congratulating himself for having “avenge the prophet”.
The emotion aroused by this attack was revived with the murder, on October 13, 2023, of Dominique Bernard, 57, stabbed to death by Mohammed Mogouchkov, a former student registered for Islamist radicalization, in front of his establishment. Mogouchkov, 21, born in Russia, was charged and imprisoned by an anti-terrorist investigating judge four days after the attack for which he had claimed responsibility on behalf of the Islamic State organization.
This week of tributes will also be marked by the presentation, on Saturday at the Sorbonne, of the Samuel Paty prize, intended to reward class projects focused on “democratic principles and values”.
